Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

Yoga, health, wellness, and recipes from YogaDownload.com

Nut milks are a healthy alternative to soy and cow milk products! However, processed almond and coconut milks in the grocery stores still have some strange and scary ingredients! Making your own nut milks with natural and healthy ingredients gives you full awareness of what you are putting into your body. Making your own nut milks is also so much fun and much easier than you may think!
With all the environmental toxins we are now faced with, eating and preparing raw and vegan foods is a way we can support our bodies in detoxing toxins and sustaining peace with our environment and other beings we share this planet with. There are also health benefits in replacing dairy products with non-dairy alternatives. Plus, nut milks are delicious and offer a variety of unique flavors and textures!
Almond Milk Recipe: You can use this same recipe and ratio for any nut milk or hemp milk.

The combined effects of the biochemical process that occur in your body on a cellular level are called metabolism. They make it possible for you to digest food, think, move and perform all the functions of a living being. Your metabolism is the powerhouse that keeps your body going. Genetics have a large role to play in determining your metabolic rate. But eating right can also speed up your metabolism naturally.
The metabolism boosting foods I’m sharing in this article will not only help you burn fat, but they can also keep you healthy in the long run. So, be sure to regularly include them in your diet!
Chili peppers
Chili peppers are abundant in capsaicin, a chemical compound that has several beneficial properties. Studies have found that this compound gives chili peppers the ability to boost thermogenesis, which is the process by which calories are turned into heat to use as energy.
Chilies have the potential to boost your metabolism rapidly and also have high doses of vitamin C, so it is a good idea to add these to your meals.

With the World Cup approaching, some healthy party snack recipes will come in handy! In the U.S., nothing says sports, like chicken wings and cheese dip. But if you want to beat the bloat and the hangover morning the next day, stick with us.
When it comes to healthy sporting event snacks, we’ve got you covered!
Our new Cauliflower “Buffalo” Hummus below is perfect for any big game! Serve it with veggies like sliced cucumbers, carrot and celery sticks.
If you want to go all out, try our Green Pea or our Beet Hummus. All three together would make a beautiful spread.
No game would be complete without our all-time favorite Spinach Artichoke Dip. This one is now a regular at most of our potlucks and parties.
Pair any of these healthy alternatives with one of our Conscious Cocktails and make your 80:20 splurge like a rockstar would.
Moscow Mule anyone?
Move over Ruffles and sour cream dip!
For more healthy alternatives on gameday that will keep you feeling on top of your game, be sure to check our our 80:20 Plan.
What’s on your game day menu? Be sure to leave us a comment below.

Today’s recipe is cleanse-friendly and can be easily modified to stay within the guidelines of purification if you're currently cleansing. Simply omit the olives if you want to be a purist–or keep them in and consider them part of what’s easing you off of your purification. Enjoy this simple, healthy, and delicious vegetarian recipe!

Summertime is right around the corner, and we are looking forward to a season full of cookouts, outdoor gatherings, and family trips. Coming up with treats that are healthy but also easy to eat on the go can be hard, so we’ve come up with a recipe that hits the spot!
Our Chewy Cacao Bars are a great treat for picnics, outdoor parties, road trips – you name it! And they totally blow away those overly-processed and sugar-filled snack bars. This is one of many recipes that are included in our 80:20 Lifestyle Program. We’ve developed this program to help you maintain your post-Cleanse vibrancy, but still have room to indulge every once in a while, so you can live life to the fullest (and healthiest)!

‘Tis the season…for brunch!
Chances are, you may be planning a Mother’s Day brunch gathering this weekend or next, and we have the perfect healthy entree that will look amazing on any brunch spread. The best part? It’s super easy to make!
Presenting…Sweet Potato Toast (3 Ways)!
Everyone is going nuts for avocado toast these days, so we’ve given it a healthy makeover by serving it on toasted slices of sweet potato! For those who are sensitive to avocado or aren’t as fond of it as we are, we’ve also topped our sweet potato slices with our fan-favorite Beet Hummus. And for those who are craving a sweeter snack, we’ve made a version topped with almond butter, banana, and cinnamon. Is your mouth watering yet?

Spring is here for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, and that means the start of fresh veggie season! Yay! We love going to our local farmer’s market and seeing all the delicious fresh produce available.
And what better way to use that fresh bounty of seasonal vegetables than to make a big, beautiful, meal-sized salad?
Here at the Conscious Cleanse, meal-sized salads are not your average skimpy side salad, but a salad big and bountiful enough to leave you feeling full and satisfied. This salad is filled with fresh greens, colorful veggies, sprouts, a creamy salad dressing, and your favorite plant or animal protein. It truly looks and tastes like the definition of abundance!
What’s your favorite spring salad ingredient? If you try this recipe, tag us on Facebook or Instagram, we LOVE seeing how our readers make our recipes their own.

Three. Bean. Salad.
These three words can evoke childhood memories of a sweet and sour side salad often served at family cookouts.
It seems as though you were either a big fan or completely disgusted by it. (Note: we were both the latter, but today’s recipes has changed everything!)
​Today we’ve taken a traditional recipe and turn it on its head, modernizing it with fresh flavors that will have you scratching your head saying, “I can’t believe this is a Three Bean Salad!”
Welcome to the new millennium Three Bean Salad!
Although we may not describe ourselves as regular bean eaters, they no doubt are a staple in many vegetarian and vegan diets. Filled with protein, fiber, and B vitamins, beans can be an important part of a healthy diet.
Not Your Grandma’s Three Bean Salad makes a colorful, tasty, and healthy choice to bring to your next BBQ, summer potluck, or even camping! Plus, this recipe will take you less than 30 minutes to toss together. Bonus!

In a recent recipe and blog post, I dropped the “caffeine bomb”. Many of you reading are saying, “Ugh, I’d rather not talk about that anymore.” But just in case you missed it, here are some reasons to consider giving up your beloved coffee drink!
This week we’re here to offer an alternative, to soften the blow of going sans coffee with a “too good to be true” coffee alternative.
Enter, Dandelion Root Coffee.
Dandelion root, often associated with the pesky dandelion weed, has been used for centuries to treat depression, scurvy and even diabetes. It’s difficult to find dandelion root in most health food stores, so you’re best bet is to buy it online. We bought our dandelion root and chicory from Frontier Natural Products and Starwest Botanicals. A great liver detoxifier, dandelion root, it is also known for aiding in digestion and weight loss. The other magic ingredient in this nutty warm elixir is chicory, which gives this drink its rich coffee flavor. Chicory is full of antioxidants and helps to reduce inflammation in the body to boot.

Purification is all about slowing down and tuning in. Take a brisk walk to soak up the elusive sunshine with your favorite pup, go to the yin yoga class you’ve been thinking about all week, or spend some quality downtime with friends and family.
We have come up with a bright, tasty, and creative soup. It’s full of phytonutrients, minerals, and fiber. All of these contribute to overall nervous system health while being comforting and a little classy too! The gremolata puts to use the zest of the lemon and reminds us that spring is just around the corner. Use your creativity to swirl and twirl the Coconut Crema on top of the soup. Like a mini art class!
Enjoy! And Happy Purification!

The other night we had our cleanse-friendly community dinner at Zeal and we met a young woman who had severe eczema. Allergy tests confirmed several food intolerances, chocolate being one of them.
As diehard chocolate lovers, of course, we gasped. Allergic to chocolate? What could be worse? True to form, we started to dig deeper.
This young woman, all of 13 years of age, wasn’t allergic to chocolate, she was allergic to dairy! So we asked her if she had ever tried cacao.
Not to be confused with cocoa (or cocoa powder), cacao is the purest form of chocolate you can eat.

Matcha tea lends itself to some very healthy and tasty vegan recipes. A single cup of matcha reportedly has antioxidants equivalent to what you’ll find in 10 cups of green tea. The antioxidant EGCG brings about a sense of calm alertness, and there have been studies that show that show its ability to inhibit the growth of cancer cells. Greens like matcha are also recommended as a natural ingredient in hair fall remedies.
Here are some very vegan but delicious recipes you can prepare with matcha:
Recipe 1 – Matcha Vegan Yogurt Breakfast Bowl
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Probiotic vegan yogurt is a really healthy and tasty proposition. Probiotics in yogurt strengthen the immune system and are great for maintaining healthy intestines. Probiotic vegan yogurt is high in protein content too. Add matcha, some blood orange slices, maple syrup and walnuts and the health and taste quotients shoot up.

Did you know that the average distance your food travels to get to your plate in the United States is 1500 miles?
Often times, it’s much more when you get your fruit from other continents. Admittedly, I can’t live without my lemons, but I try to really stock up on the freshest foods when they're in season. I like to buy extra blueberries, peaches, and raspberries so that I can freeze them and use these delicious, out-of-season fruits during the winter months for my smoothies.
Although, I’m not complaining about the abundance of local food, sometimes I find myself saying, “what do I do with that zucchini blossom?” I also like to have a variety of recipes up my sleeve for simple foods like cauliflower, which to be honest I don’t love raw because it’s too harsh on my stomach.
My favorite recipe for this sometimes gas producing food is Cauliflower Mashers! Maybe I shouldn’t be using the word gas and cauliflower in the same sentence to make this recipe look enticing. But, it’s delicious and almost reminds me of mashed potatoes, I swear!

We’re big chocolate lovers and with Valentine’s Day right around the corner, there’s no better time to indulge in some dark chocolate.
If it’s chocolate you’re looking for be sure to try our favorite sugar-free chocolate from The Good Chocolate. They are offering our community 15% off your order when you use coupon code #victoryissweet.
You can also check out many of the chocolate-filled sweet treats we’ve made here.
Today’s 80:20 recipe is as decadent as it is nostalgic of the oh-so-sweet-and-tart lemon bars we all grew up with.
Lemon Balls

We have a guest blogger for you today and we couldn’t be more excited about it.
Maria Uspenski is the founder of The Tea Spot, a leading producer of craft teas, based in Boulder, CO. The first time we met with Maria to co-create a line of detox teas, we quickly realized what a special human being we were with. MIT graduate, inventor, former ballet dancer, athlete, and author of Cancer Hates Tea, Maria’s passion for tea is infectious.
Maria is the The Tea Spot’s innovative force, having realized the powerful healing benefits of tea through her own personal journey with cancer. Her message is simple and powerful – tea in its freshest form is not only sustainable and delicious, it’s a powerful elixir with unmatched health benefits. Maria is a social entrepreneur, cancer fighter and certified tea and fitness nutrition expert, and we couldn’t be more excited to share her story with you today!

If you’re an SNL fan, you probably can’t talk about one of our cleanser’s all-time favorite bite-size snacks without busting up laughing. To get the inside joke, be sure to check out SNL’s Sweddy Balls skit.
Our beloved Joy Balls (recipe in our book, page 260) have been known not only as a life-saving snack during the cleanse, but also a source of ongoing office humor, banter, and silly text messages between cleansers.
Is it us or do the words “nut balls” just make you smile? Our ball obsession has led us to make several incarnations of the original Joy Balls.
Protein-Packed Almond Butter Balls (in our book page 261)
Nut Free Joy Balls (get the recipe here)
And new today…Amazeballs!

This time of year can be busy, making it easy to push aside our health!
Simple self-care requires that we take the time to make a green smoothie, exercise, and cook good meals at home every day!
Life can feel overwhelming at times, but here’s the thing – time and health are two of the most valuable resources we have. If you’ve been struck down by the flu or other health crisis, you know this to be true! And time, much like our health, is in our control. We just have to make a plan and put health on our to-do list.
During our Healthy Challenge (get the details here) we’ve found many of your responses have had to do with remembering to eat or cooking food at home.
Today’s recipe is made in a crockpot (or Instant Pot) so you can set it and forget it. Come home to a warm home-cooked meal without having to spend a lot of time in the kitchen!
Crockpot Bison Stew

It’s time to start planning holiday meals! While pumpkin pie is usually a Thanksgiving thing, people love it for celebrations any time of year, so I decided to do a healthy twist on this classic favorite.
I must admit, I’m not much of a pumpkin pie girl, I much prefer chocolate, but this nearly raw variation is heavenly.
It’s an amazing 80:20 dessert. It’s silky, creamy, rich and decadent, free from sugar, dairy, eggs and gluten. And best of all, it tastes just like the real thing!
Enjoy and be sure to whip up some homemade vegan coconut whipped cream to go on top.

As many of us in the northern hemisphere approach the coldest weather of the year and flu season, I thought I would share with you my new favorite go-to soup when I feel under the weather.
Over the years, as I’ve slowly worked to better my health with a plant-based diet, I’m usually a little puzzled as to what to eat when I get sick.
When it comes down to surviving the flu, I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking chicken noodle soup, ginger ale, saltines, toast and jelly. And even though I haven’t had any of that stuff for a few decades (or the flu for that matter!), they’re still ingrained in my mind as flu comfort foods.
What I know and live by, most importantly when I’m sick, is that whatever I’m going to eat has to be nourishing and healing, and not simply comforting – although all of the above would be nice. Aside from homemade chicken noodle soup, which isn’t going to happen when you’re sick unless mom lives nearby, none of the previously mentioned foods are going to support your immune system with any extra love. When you’re sick, boosting your immune system’s fighting power with nourishing, vitamin and mineral-filled food will help you feel better faster.
As a veg-head who hasn’t eaten chicken noodle soup since high school, over the years I’ve turned to miso (pronounced mee-so) soup. Miso, which has its origins in Japan, is traditionally referred to as fermented soy. It’s known as an all-purpose, high-protein seasoning that’s most often used in soups, salad dressings and veggie dishes. It’s rich in vitamins, minerals and contains all eight essential amino acids. It also has quite a few healing benefits now back by scientific research – reduces the risk of heart disease, hypertension and breast cancer, to name a few.

Lately I’ve been hungry for more veggie protein options, so I’ve been gravitating toward eating more beans.
Chickpeas, AKA garbanzo beans, are part of the legume family. They’re touted for their high levels of insoluble fiber, so naturally they’re an amazingly cleanse-friendly food. In just 1 cup of chickpeas you’ll get over 15 grams of protein, so they’re a fantastic veggie-based protein source.
Chickpeas boast a wide array of phytonutrients both in the seed coat and inner bean. My favorite inflammation fighting phytonutrient, quercetin, is plentiful in this little bean, which makes it a healthy food to be eating during any allergy season.
Chickpeas are extremely versatile. You can flavor them with a variety of spices, add them to soups, salads, and salad dressings. You can even eat them by the handful for a healthy and filling snack.
Not only will this recipe delight your taste buds, but it will also help to satisfy your cravings for junk food and sweets. In a recent study, people who ate chickpeas were shown to eat fewer processed foods. Equally exciting, participants who ate garbanzo beans for just 1 week were able to control their blood sugar and insulin levels.

Today I want share with you my new favorite green juice! Hydrating and refreshing – it’s just perfect for detoxifying.
Cilantro Detox Juice is an incredibly healing juice. Created by our friend and fellow wellness warrior, Elana Amsterdam, this juice features an entire bunch of cilantro (stems and leaves), which is known to be highly effective at helping chelate heavy metals from the body.
As someone who has a family history with Alzheimer’s, detoxing heavy metals is of particular interest to me.
If you don’t have a juicer at home, this would probably taste just as good blended up in your high speed blender, but you’ll have to report back and let me know. Alternatively, you might like our Heavy Metal Detox Smoothie.

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” ―Hippocrates
Did you know that the immune system’s army is in the stomach? And to keep the army healthy, you need to feed it good nourishment.
Our immune system does an incredible job at protecting us from all those pesky germs that want to invade our body. But sometimes, germs pass by it and we get sick. Thankfully, it is possible to intervene and give the immune system a helping hand.
In this article, I share you easy recipes to boost immunity and help you fight those nasty germs and colds.

Turkey, stuffing, pie, oh my!
Thanksgiving is a holiday about abundance, or for many us, overabundance! So to make sure you don’t feel like slithering out of your chair only to fall asleep under the table, we’ve pulled together six of our favorite healthy recipes that will leave you feeling energized and not stuffed to the gills.
Using fresh herbs, seasonal farm fresh produce, and nutrient dense ingredients, we’ve put a healthy spin on some of our traditional favorites. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do and feel our love as you make them!
As you plan your Thanksgiving menu, remember that this time of year is not just about the food you put on your table, it’s also about the connection and time spent with your loved ones. Enjoy every moment!

This gluten-free Matzo Ball Soup is a healthy twist on a Passover classic. My secret to making this dish gluten-free is to use almond flour in place of matzo meal. Yes, it’s a grain-free Paleo Matzo Ball Soup, as a good as any your Bubby ever made.
Traditionally, Matzo Ball Soup is served each year at Passover. One of my favorite holidays, it ushers in a change of seasons and occurs each year on the spring full moon falling in March or April.

Temperatures have started to dip in the northern hemisphere the past few weeks, causing us to crave warm soups and other fall favorites. Today we have a recipe that is the epitome of comfort food. It’s the perfect meal that the entire family will enjoy. But it’s also a labor of love and tends to be one those childhood favorites that just don’t work in our Conscious Cleanse lifestyle. That is until today! Our Vegetable Lasagna with non-dairy ricotta “cheese” is a simple, gluten free, vegan lasagna. And it tastes delicious. Now your Italian granny might turn over in her grave but believe us our vegan cashew “cheese” is so tasty you will never miss the real stuff. As for the noodles? Gluten be gone. These “noodles” are made from veggies sliced thinly and roasted until caramelized and sweet. A real excellent substitution in the flavor department. Layer it all up with a high quality can of organic crushed tomatoes and you have a healthy and warming dinner.